Q: Apple TV 2 has big problems homesharing - fixes?  firmware update needed!

I've got an ATV3 that has had this issue. I scheduled an Automator action every day in the wee hours of the morning to restart iTunes in order to get around this.

I upgraded to iTunes 11 and iOS 5.1.1 last week, and the problem has been non-existent for me since. Can anyone else confirm that this new combo has fixed the problem?

No, in fact for me it's worse than ever.  Gets disconnected every few minutes unless it's hardwired.

Although I'd given up on my AStV2 (and Apple altogether, I'm going Sony), your message Alphaman has me curious, so I'm installing iTunes 11 on my Win7 PC to see if I get any improved home sharing performance. I'll post again once I've had a chance to test it. I'm not holding my breath though!

I've done a few tests to try and narrow it down:

If I connect my Apple TV 3 directly to my Macbook Pro using a crossover cable it works flawlessly.

If I connect my ATV3 to the router via Cat6 cable it seems to work better but still disconnects after 20 minutes or so.

If I connect my Macbook Pro directly to the router using the same method it works better by still disconnects randomly.

If I connect both it disconnected once during a 2 hour movie.

I've given both devices reserved IPs, disabled other protocols, altered energy saving settings, downgraded the firmware back to 5.0.1 and tried to monitor traffic.

What's more infuriating is that it has worked absolutely fine since I've owned (August 2012).  It's only the last month of so since it's been doing it.

Well, updated iTunes to 11 and the ATV2 to latest firmware, and although it seemed to be working at first the ATV2 lost network connectivity after about an hour. Both the homesharing link and YouTube app (Internet) died, but my router is working fine and my PC is still running iTunes with working Internet. It's just the ATV unit that's stopped receiving. Still a useless brick. It's DLNA for me from here on, Sony's products seem solid!

My AppleTV 2 no longer could connect to my Library on my iMac with error message "Could not connect to library". This started after updating to the latest version of AppleTV software (5.1.1). I naturally assumed something was wrong with the AppleTV update. After much, much time trying different things none of which worked, became suspicious of iTunes on the iMac and noticed that shortly after the AppleTV update occured, the iTunes update to version 11 also happened, Guess what? It turned to be problems with Howmsharing on iTunes 11. After backing off to iTunes 10.7 Homesharing immediately returned to working.

So be aware that there are issues with iTunes 11. iTunes 11 is to be installed on OSX 10.7 or highier (Lion). Somehow iTunes update on SnowLeopord (OSX 10.6.8) on my iMac and left iTunes at version 11 and HomeSharing not working with any of my devices - AppleTV or iPhone or PowerBook. Debugging this was painful, slow, and difficult.

I just bought an ATV 3 and im sending it back for a full refund.

I have all the same problems as so many other users all over the web with this home sharing fiasco always turning off after a minute or so, itunes missing the air play icon. Only thing that works "sometimes" is airplay from my iphone or ipad but what I wanted to do was simply stream from itunes 10.7.0.21 running on Win 7 64 bit pro via home sharing or even airplay and that just plain does not work at all from the itunes running PC. My home network has worked great accept for all these Apple fiascos! Can't wait until someone gets this all working ( Miracast 2013?) and they get my money from now on!!!

Home sharing = another Applegate!

One thing you might try is to stop sharing the drive where the iTunes library lives.  I found that my Windows 7 home premium copmputer that has the iTunes library on it works.  It is weird.  I went in to share the drive after everything was running, but you can't see the contents from other network computers.  You go in and Windows thinks the drive is shared, but you can't look at it unless you are on the actual machine.

This will probably be my last post here.

I bought my wife a Sony Tablet Experia S for Christmas, and I subsequently bought myself a Sony BluRay player that's internet ready. Both are DLNA approved, and with little effort they're now set up to stream pictures, video and music to my TV. Windows Media Player is DLNA approved too, so I'm able to browse and play my home PC content on the TV via either the BluRay machine or the tablet.

The BluRay player also has a wealth of apps, including NetFlix and YouTube, which are favourite two, plus other apps including a Web Browser and access to the Sony Enterntainment Network.

Unlike the Apple TV and iTunes, the Sony stuff ALL WORKS! No problems whatsoever. And with it being DLNA, which is a public technology, other devices are happily able to join in. Which means, with free apps for my iPhone, I can browse and share my phone's content to my PC and the Sony tablet too.

Bye bye to the restrictive Apple domain. Hello to the DLNA domain!

Next on my shopping list when I've saved a few coins: A new Smart TV! (Sony of course ;-)

Yeah, Sony webbrowsing is a real treat if you like a challenge! Good luck with that....

The Apple tv still is the best thing out there if it works. The interface is awesome and if you put a little effort in getting your iTunes in order.

No problems here anymore.

joeridepoeri wrote:

 

Yeah, Sony webbrowsing is a real treat if you like a challenge! Good luck with that....

Not tried the browser for anything serious, but it's better than not having one like the ATV. I've read that you can throw (the Sony term for sharing content between devices) a webpage from your tablet to the TV. I've not tried it yet, but it most likely sends the URL and the TV loads it up in the Sony browser. Makes the navigation easier when you can find the webpage on your tablet and simple throw it at the TV to share it with the family. No need to navigate the webpages with the remote control.

The Apple tv still is the best thing out there if it works. The interface is awesome and if you put a little effort in getting your iTunes in order.

I agree, the interface for ATV is great, but the unit just doesn't work. I've had it over a year now and endured about 4 software updates. Each has made it that little bit worse! If it works it's great, but it doesn't work. There's clearly nothing wrong with my network (I'm a software engineer that knows more than a little about networks) as the Sony devices are all fine and stream faultlessly, so I blame the Apple products (whether it be the ATV or Bonjour in iTunes). After 12 months of cursing and disappointment I'm finally pleased to be able to box it all back up and enjoy successful experiences with the Sony stuff.

No problems here anymore.

I'm pleased for you. I wish mine had worked...

Starting to make the switch to Windows tablets and DLNA! I will keep my ATV for the things it is good at...streaming Dora for my daughter and renting movies.

The best solution is to just smassh the apple tv into 3 or 4 pieces and return it to the store (the look on their faces is prceless). The use something like an xbox or smart tv and stream plex.

My atv3 used to disconnect when streaming video contents from my PC via iPad, my atv3 was connected through ethernet and my PC was connected by ethernet too.

Last night when I pulled the cable out from my atv3 and let it connect by wifi (which I havent done before, because I didnt think it would matter) surprisingly, everything starts working fine! videos never gets disconnected again.

hope this will somehow help some of you ppl.

I have updated my AppleTV to the latest firmware (5.1.1), have the newest versions of iTunes and OS-X. But I still have "no content found in this library" problem. I can "solve" it by turning off and back on homesharing on my AppleTV but this is very annoying.